site logosite logoSearchsearch text …Press FreedomGeorgian opposition leader arrested, beaten unconscious as Tbilisi protests continueDecember 05, 2024 6:29 PMBy Liam ScottNika Gvaramia, leader of the Coalition for Change party, is seen surrounded by police officers before his detention in Tbilisi, Georgia, Dec. 4, 2024, in this still image from video. Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Coalition for Change party, is seen surrounded by police officers before his detention in Tbilisi, Georgia, Dec. 4, 2024, in this still image from video.Prominent Georgian opposition leader and former journalist Nika Gvaramia is recovering after being beaten unconscious by police Wednesday amid pro-Europe protests in Tbilisi, according to his lawyer.Gvaramia, head of the Akhali party under the Coalition for Change umbrella, was detained Wednesday during police searches of opposition parties’ headquarters in the Georgian capital, according to media reports.Gvaramia was repeatedly hit in the stomach until he lost consciousness before being dragged into a police vehicle, according to local media reports.Gvaramia is Georgia’s former justice minister and the founder of the pro-opposition broadcaster Mtavari Arkhi. He was jailed from 2022 to 2023 on charges he and press freedom experts rejected as retaliatory.

The high-profile arrest comes amid ongoing protests after the ruling Georgian Dream party announced it was stopping the country’s bid to begin discussions on joining the European Union. According to opinion polls, around 80% of Georgians support joining the EU. Gvaramia’s lawyer, Dito Sadzaglishvili, stated on Thursday that Gvaramia’s health is now “satisfactory.” “He believes that now, of course, is the time for the Georgian people to calmly, firmly, and courageously continue to protest and fight against the Russian regime,” the lawyer told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Gvaramia was arrested for “petty hooliganism” and failing to comply with police commands, according to his lawyer. Sadzaglishvili expects a court hearing within 48 hours of his arrest.

Police have also detained Aleko Elisashvili, the leader of the Strong Georgia opposition party, a youth protest movement leader, and at least six other opposition party members.

The detentions came as thousands of pro-EU protestors continue to converge in Tbilisi, despite police using water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. More than 330 protestors have been arrested, and rights groups claim that many have been assaulted while detained. Governments, including the United States, have condemned the excessive use of force and chastised Georgian Dream for putting EU membership on hold. Journalists were attacked, and non-governmental organizations were raided. Multiple accounts indicate that at least 50 journalists have been hurt during violent police dispersals of demonstrations since November 28. “The protection of journalists is a hallmark of democratic societies,” said Gulnoza Said, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Europe and Central Asia campaign coordinator. “Georgian authorities have failed to address to address the extensive and shocking police violence against journalists covering ongoing mass protests signals a clear departure from democratic values,” Said added.

According to local media accounts, police raided the offices of different nongovernmental organizations in addition to opposition party headquarters. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the Georgian Dream party stated that the raids targeted those who incited violence during protests in an attempt to overthrow his government. “I wouldn’t call this repression; it is more of a preventive measure than repression,” he was saying. Protests erupted in late October following a contentious election that allowed the Georgian Dream party to remain in office, despite monitoring groups reporting several breaches. Opposition parties and rights groups accuse Georgian Dream of pulling Georgia—which was previously praised as one of the most free former Soviet republics—away from the West — away from the West and closer to Russia.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili refused to recognize the official election results and filed an appeal with the constitutional court, which rejected it on Tuesday. Gvaramia informed VOA in October that the elections will be rigged. “Either we have democracy on the ground or we are Russian. “There is no third option in my opinion,” Gvaramia told VOA at the time. Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York presented Gvaramia with the International Press Freedom Award. “Democracy will never die,” he told Voice of America last year. “I don’t need anything except democracy.”